Innehållsförteckning för August 2019 från MacFormat

SUBSCRIBE TODAY! SAVE UP TO 51%! Turn to page 34 There’s certainly a lot to talk about this issue, not least the next versions of macOS and iOS that Apple unveiled at its recent Worldwide Developers Conference! As usual, there’s also a feast of reviews, tutorials and news to sink your teeth into, and a collection of helpful but hidden Mac features. Before you get stuck in, I have a personal announcement to make: this is my last issue as the editor of this magazine. I’ve enjoyed making diverse contributions to it since 2011, first as a freelance writer, digital production editor on the early interactive edition, and then production editor. The highlight for me has been summer-long research into changes in macOS and iOS to bring you jam-packed guides to…

Apple has initiated a service program for backlight issues on its 13in MacBook Pro. The issue specifically affects models sold between October 2016 and February 2018. This includes the 2016 models with two and four Thunderbolt 3 ports. Apple has stated that a “very small percentage” of 13in MacBook Pro displays are affected. The issue manifests itself as either the display backlight continuously or intermittently showing vertical bright areas along the bottom of the display, or as the backlight not working at all. If your MacBook Pro is affected, Apple will repair it free of charge. The company says you’ll need to book an appointment at an Apple Store or find a nearby Apple Authorised Service Provider. If you’ve already paid to have this issue repaired, you can contact Apple…

The rumours of an Apple augmented or virtual reality headset haven’t gone away. Adding more fuel to the fire are three recently granted patents that suggest Apple is still working on the idea. All three patents cover a head-mounted device that would incorporate an iPhone in some way in order to provide imagery to the user. One patent covers a device with an opaque display (as opposed to a Google Glass-like transparent display), while another details how a head-mounted device could work with or without a paired smartphone. The third patent suggests such a device could have two modes: one where the outside world is shown to the user, and one where it is not, suggesting both AR and VR modes. Apple also won a fourth patent for a pair…

CRAIG FEDERIGHI apple.com “A great product experience is something everyone should have.” Apple exec says Apple isn’t trying to just be a luxury brand REN ZHENGFEI huawei.com “If there was no Apple to help show us the world, we would not see the beauty of this world.” Huawei founder is effusive in his praise for his “teacher”, Apple MICHAEL LOVE pleco.com “If [Apple is] launching a… new 4-inch device… it seems like 4-inch screens aren’t going anywhere.” Programmer says new iPod touch is good news for iPhone SE fans PHILLIP SHOEMAKER identity.com “You are what’s stopping an app… making money for [a] developer.” Former head of App Store reviews on why rejecting apps was a tough call…

iOS 13’s Photos app gains filters and effects for video The Photos app in macOS 10.15 has a new look that avoids the traditional flip between scrolling through all your photos and viewing just one, presenting a more imaginative tiled layout to curate shots organised by various criteria. The sheer number of pics we’re amassing these days can feel unmanageable, particularly on the Mac, where you’ll probably consolidate your collection from multiple sources. Photos will be able to show ‘only the best shots’, courtesy of the machine learning technology that Apple is continuously refining. This will also enable Photos to assemble snaps belonging to moments like anniversaries and holidays. Photos also promises to avoid cluttering your view with duplicates. Exploring edits In iOS 13, the Photos app not only shares…

Throughout this year’s WWDC, Apple stressed its protections for user data. An unexpected bonus was Sign In with Apple, an alternative to logging in to services via Google or Facebook. While the whole point for those companies is to help track the user, for Apple it’s to make that impossible. With Sign In, the information that platforms can gather about you is severely limited, and it’ll even generate a dummy email address for you each time. iOS 13 defeats more tricks used by public Wi-Fi tracking systems, and there’s a new Allow Just Once option for releasing location data. HomeKit also gains privacy features (see page 32). In macOS 10.15, apps will need your explicit permission more often. Keep safe In macOS, Gatekeeper checks that any new app you run…

With all iPad models now supporting one of the two versions of the Pencil, it’s no surprise that iPadOS reinforces the pairing. What is surprising is how much software tweaks have improved the immediacy of the Pencil. Among the factors that conspire against digital scribbling feeling exactly like the real thing, a tricky one to eliminate is latency: when you touch a pencil or pen tip to paper, it makes a mark in real time, but on a screen there’s a tiny delay. Reducing that delay is primarily a hardware challenge, but it turns out there was room for improvement in the operating system too. Using the Pencil 2 on the latest iPad Pros, iOS 12 achieved a latency of 20 milliseconds; iPadOS cuts this to nine. ‘Our goal is…

There’s a very obvious difference between Apple Maps and Google Maps. While Google offers top-down satellite maps plus ground-level Street View, Apple uses a combination of aerial photos and depth mapping to render 3D maps that you can zoom into from bird’s-eye to rooftop level. This year, however, Apple will start rolling out its own 360° ground-level view, called Look Around. Coming first to iOS 13, it’s promised for the US by the end of the year – though it’s not clear how much of the country will be covered – and will be available elsewhere in 2020. The Look Around view has been created by a fleet of mapping vans that Apple dispatched more than a year ago to replace data bought in from third parties with its own…

CHARGE THE EASY WAY The PowerWave 7.5 mat has a discreet, low-profile design. Just lay your iPhone 8 or later on it to charge! CABLE INCLUDED A 3ft Micro-USB cable is included. Just connect the PowerWave to your USB wall charger (use a 10W or greater adapter). MAXIMUM POWER The PowerWave mat supports iOS’s maximum of 7.5W wireless power delivery. (iOS 11.2 or later.) GIFT WORTH £32 It’s easy to subscribe… SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND SAVE! www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/mac/ankert Or call: 0344 848 2852 and quote ‘anker’ HURRY! TIME LIMITED OFFER Other benefits of subscribing to the UK’s best-selling Apple magazine… ✔ Our print subscription delivers 13 print issues of MacFormat a year to your door, saving up to 21% on the cover price ✔ Get our print and digital bundle and save up to…

Thanks to ever-present gadgets such as your iPhone, you’re likely to have gathered a large collection of video clips. These individual clips can be trimmed and shared to social media sites directly from the Photos app, for example, but you could do so much more with them. iMovie enables you to cut a series of clips together into a longer, more sophisticated story that gives your programme higher production values. For example, if you’re producing content for a YouTube channel then people will be attracted by the video editing assets that iMovie can provide, such as titles, fades and transitions. We’ll start this five-part look at iMovie with a guide to importing and editing, then explore more advanced post-production tools in later issues. By following our ongoing iMovie guide your…

Create your own sunset so you don’t have to hang around until the evening! If you’ve been keeping up with recent issues, you’ll know that Affinity Photo is a digital darkroom that’s packed with tools to help you fix common problems with colour, tone and composition. The software can help you overcome the results of incorrect camera settings to make a subject look as good in print as it did to the naked eye. Affinity Photo is also packed with tools that can produce more creative-looking results, such as adding a sunset to an image captured much earlier in the day. A sunset (or sunrise) will enhance any landscape with a romantic golden glow and vibrant colours, but it takes skill and effort (and a bit of luck with weather…

We’re living in an age where communication is dominated by social networks, and also seeing a revitalisation of instant messaging (what with the Slacks of this world). But email still remains a vital communications line for many. On iPad and iPhone alike, there are plenty of email apps you can download from the App Store, but chances are you’ll stick with Apple’s Mail. A regular criticism we hear about Mail for iOS is that it’s, well, not very good. But that’s often the opinion of people who’ve merely given it a cursory glance, and not really delved deeply into what the app has to offer. This walkthrough is designed not so much as a primer – if you’re reading, you likely already have your account set up, and are happily…

The updates to Pages, Numbers and Keynote for iOS that were announced at the end of March added the ability to save templates, plus more related features. You still can’t create the text placeholders that you find in Apple’s own templates – which can be tapped once to type over – but you can now set images as placeholders. You can already tap any image, tap the brush icon in the toolbar at the top right, go to the Image tab and tap Replace to place a new image file within the same box. When you set an image as a Placeholder, it just means it gets a little + icon in the bottom right corner that does the same, but faster. You can now switch Pages word processor documents…

I can’t copy my Time Machine backup Q I’m trying to move my Time Machine backups from their current 2TB external drive to a new 4TB model. About halfway through, macOS reports a ‘-41 error’ and aborts. What’s wrong? by PETER HILLMORE A Before going any further, check that you didn’t install any utility software for this new drive. If you did, uninstall it before trying again. Although sometimes useful, these tools aren’t necessary and can cause compatibility issues at times like this. Then reformat the new drive using Disk Utility, ensuring that it’s set to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format. Time Machine backups can still only be made to a drive in that format, not the newer APFS kind. Next, in Finder, press shift+command+C, select the drive and choose…

LIVE SMARTER The smart home is here – live the Apple dream today! Smart TV? Pah. Mine is slow, clunky, and while it does play content from certain services, others (like the WWE Network – don’t laugh) have recently dropped support for my particular set. Admittedly, this particular screen is showing its age a bit. It hails from a time when bezels needed to be measured not in millimetres but by their red shift. But it’s supposedly smart… I’ve upgraded it (and the rest of my home TVs) with a Chromecast, which moves all of the smart functionality onto my phone, and mostly suffices. But when I next get to upgrade, and that’s a question for the one who holds the purse strings, I’m hoping to get a TV which…

1 Start the browser You’ll need the Google Chrome web browser installed, and a second-gen Chromecast or later (we found that the first gen wasn’t listed as a target). Open Chrome, click the three-dot (…) icon in the top right, and select ‘Cast’. 2 Select the source Chrome can send all sorts of things to a Chromecast, from the content of your current browser tab to a specific media file to your Mac desktop. Use the Sources options at the base of the menu to select what to send. 3 Select the target Choose your Chromecast device in the upper list. You’ll see a new ‘cast’ icon appear in the Chrome extension area; if you want to cast media like YouTube, look out for the same icon in-browser, or click…

IN PRINT ON iPAD & iPHONE ISSUE 340 JULY 2019 > Improve your home network > Buyer’s guide: pick the perfect iPad > How to stay safe online > Group test: email apps for iPhone ISSUE 339 JUNE 2019 > Turbo boost: Speed up your Mac > The latest Apple kit tested: iMac, iPad Air, iPad mini, AirPods > Why it’s time to try Apple Watch ISSUE 338 MAY 2019 > Become an expert photo editor > Siri on your Mac: 10 top tips > The inside story of your Apple kit > Group test: iPhone calendar apps To order back issues of the print magazine, go to bit.ly/macformat_back or phone +44 (0)844 848 2852 and we’ll post them out to you. Download back issues onto your iOS device at…

> £251.88 > FROM Ezviz, ezvizlife.com > FEATURES Motion detection, 720p, night vision, 4.3in colour touchscreen You can peer through your digital peephole even if you’re not at home Though outwardly a smart doorbell, the DP1 isn’t necessarily aiming to nestle into the same category as, say, the Amazon Ring. Instead, it is its own beast. Rather than ripping out your existing bell, you’ll need to dismantle or create a peephole in your door. You mount the viewer element on the front of your door, pushing its metal shaft into the peephole before connecting its cable to the viewing screen mount on the interior side of your door. You then place the rechargeable 4.3in touchscreen into the mount and you’re good to go. This is an innovative form factor, and…

> £34.99 > FROM Creative, uk.creative.com > FEATURES 2.1 stereo system, USB powered, up to 8W output What was surprising was that complex tracks didn’t sound like a muffled set of instruments For around the cost of a meal out, Creative is underselling and overdelivering with these criminally cheap 2.1 stereo speakers that cost around £35. Surprisingly at this price point, the speakers actually come with a subwoofer (hence the Plus’ in the product’s moniker). The sub could be a bit sturdier, but there’s a 4in down-firing driver inside which is capable of pumping out 4W of bass. There’s a slight slant to the speakers themselves, which is a relatively minor – yet still significant – move. Often, computer speakers either face straight ahead or offer a slight angle. Here,…

> £9.99 > FROM Apparent Software, apparentsoft.com > NEEDS OS X 10.8 or later Keeping track of everything on your Mac can be tricky, but there are apps to help. Trickster is just such an app. It doesn’t directly compete with Spotlight as a file finder, as it doesn’t provide a ‘global’ search of every file. Instead, it focuses on the most recent files, folders and apps you’ve created, used or downloaded. You can launch the app yourself, or set it to launch automatically when your Mac starts. By default, it adds an icon to the main menu bar; clicking this opens up the Trickster menu. You can also drag the Trickster window from the menu bar so it floats on screen. The main part of the Trickster window lists…

Back in 1984, the Mac was launched as a personal computer for everyday tasks. By the decade’s end, it was the basis of industries, thanks to apps like Aldus PageMaker and QuarkXPress for publishing, Macromind Director for multimedia, Mark of the Unicorn’s Performer for music sequencing, Pro Tools for digital audio, and 3D modelling and animation tools from Silicon Beach and Strata. Then, in 1990, Photoshop was released. Much of this would have been impossible within the original all-in-one design. Steve Jobs had been unwilling to depart from the vision of a computer that just worked; users shouldn’t have to open the box. But the Mac was opening up too many possibilities to stay closed. Quietly, engineers Michael Dhuey and Brian Berkeley were working on an IBM-like two-piece system. After…

Which key part would you prioritise when buying a Mac? Log on and see next issue’s big question! twitter.com/macformat facebook.com/macformat New iPod touch out with up to 256GB storage The iPod touch has been updated for the first time in four years. It now comes with an A10 Fusion chip that first appeared in the iPhone 7, and can be equipped with up to 256GB of storage. This is also the first time an iPod touch has been able to use Group Facetime with up to 32 people, and it now supports augmented reality apps and games. According to Apple’s vice president of Product Marketing Greg Joswiak, the new iPod touch is “twice as fast” as the previous model from 2015. The 32GB iPod touch costs £199, with the 128GB…

For our latest subscription offer see page 34! The Apple rumour mill never sleeps, with leaks, news, tidbits and gossip doing the rounds on a near-constant basis. When you’re invested in the Apple ecosystem, it’s easy to forget other phone makers exist, such is the ubiquity of Apple rumours. But exist they do, and some of them are researching areas and creating products that are radically different from Apple’s smartphone vision. From folding screens and in-display fingerprint sensors to modular, all-weather devices, there’s a lot going on. Whether Apple is taking any notice is another matter, but it doesn’t hurt to keep an eye on the competition. Whether you look on the Android world with envy or derision, it’s interesting to see how different Android phones often are to iPhones.…

There was something for everyone at this year’s World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC)… New versions of macOS and iOS; a dedicated version of iOS just for iPad; and very welcome OS updates for Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple also unveiled its hotly anticipated replacements for iTunes on Mac: separate, dedicated apps for Music, TV and Podcasts, with seamless device syncing via the Finder. And to the delight of creatives everywhere, Apple announced its replacement for the ‘trashcan’ Mac Pro – a new highly modular version with a display to match. Read on to find out more……

The iPad is becoming a more powerful creative tool in its own right (see page 28), but Apple also wants to make it a superb accessory to your Mac. Sidecar, a new feature in macOS 10.15, extends or mirrors your Mac to an iPad as a second display, either wirelessly (within a short range, quoted as 10 metres) or via USB cable – the latter allowing the iPad to charge from your Mac. It’s an option we’ve already seen working well with third-party apps like Astropad Studio and Duet Display, which could be ‘Sherlocked’ by Sidecar. Pencil is supported, and a Touch Bar will appear on the iPad whether or not the Mac has it. It seems all iPads capable of running iPadOS will support it, but only Macs more…

Screen Time, introduced last year in iOS 12, optionally charts how much time you spend in each app or category of app each day, showing whether your usage is going up or down. It’s now part of macOS 10.15 too, so you can see if sitting at the Mac actually means work getting done. To change habits, you can set yourself time limits for apps and times when you want to be away from the screen, with options to override or take an extra minute when your time’s up. You can consolidate stats and limits across devices. Family Sharing features let parents choose what content kids can access and who they can communicate with when.…

Clever as 2013’s cylindrical Mac Pro was, flexibility was limited, and by 2017 Apple was talking about its replacement. That in itself suggested a willingness to listen, and the machine finally unveiled by Tim Cook at WWDC really is what pro users had demanded: a traditional modular tower – with a few twists. The industrial ‘cheesegrater’ grille on the front and back of the one-piece aluminium sleeve, reportedly based on an older Apple prototype, unites the Mac Pro and its companion Apple Pro Display XDR while solving airflow challenges for both. Angular steel hoops form handles at the top – a nod to previous Mac Pros – and feet at the bottom lift the case off the floor. While aiding heat dissipation and avoiding dust, this does make for a…

Despite sharing its OS with the iPhone and iPod touch, the iPad already had some unique tricks. Slide Over and Split View, which let you have more than one app on screen at once, get even more versatile in iPadOS. The first change is that rather than showing two different apps, you can view two documents within the same app. Since there’s no concept of windows here, this is handled as two instances of the app. A new feature called App Exposé, accessed from app icons in the Dock or on the Home screen, shows you all the open instances of an app. As before, you can have two apps in Split View (the split can be 50:50 or 70:30) and add a third app in Slide Over. You can…

With the Apple TV+ streaming service coming soon, tvOS is getting an update. This adds multiple user accounts, reminiscent of Netflix profiles, so everyone will see their own preferred content and appropriate recommendations. The Home screen auto-plays previews as you slide over apps, titles or episodes, and there are new nature screensavers made by Apple with the BBC. The Music app gains features including synced lyrics display and HomeKit triggers.…

The timeline can begin to look cluttered once you’ve added a few clips to it. By dragging the slider next to Settings (top right of the timeline) to the left, you can zoom out to reveal more of the timeline’s content. Drag it right to zoom in for a closer look at your edit. To see the entire timeline in an instant, press shift+Z By default, each transition runs for one second. Double-click on a transition in the timeline and type in a longer duration for a slower mix between the clips. Click ‘Apply to All’ to adjust every transition in the current timeline.…

Store a load of folders in the Dock and you hit a snag: they almost all look identical. Outside of Apple’s special folders, like Applications and Downloads, you’ll see a row of blue. Telling folders apart requires you hold the cursor over them to see name pop-ups. Even when browsing in Finder, the problem persists to some degree, because it’s generally easier to spot something visually unique than to scan possibly dozens of names set in tiny text. The way around this is to customise your icons – something that Image2Icon (img2icnsapp.com) makes extremely simple. The rest of this tutorial outlines how the app works. Do be mindful of one pitfall, though – click the top-left arrow button at any point and Image2Icon will return to its initial state, wiping…

Apple’s default camera app is good, but it could be better. With the hardware on iOS devices becoming ever higher-resolution, and the computational capability of devices themselves on the rise, Apple’s simple, point-and-click app means keen photographers generally have to look elsewhere if they want to wrest a little control back from devices that are sometimes too ‘helpful’. Luckily, here at MacFormat, we regularly test and review apps that allow far more control over what your phone does when you press the shutter button. Spectre-taker sport Spectre Camera (£2.99) is one of our favourite such apps. One of the key benefits of a ‘proper’ camera is the ability to blur motion by using a slow shutter speed. This is complicated: knowing just how long to open the shutter for and…

What is this mystery certificate? Q I stumbled upon a new security certificate that has recently appeared in my keychain. Its name starts with ‘member:’, after which there are lots of capital letters and digits. Where has that come from, and is it safe to remove it? by COLIN ELY A This mystery certificate has appeared in the login keychains of many – perhaps all – Macs on which the macOS 10.14.4 update has been installed, and was placed there during or shortly after that. The letters and digits in its name are two universal identifiers (UUIDs). Apple uses these extensively to identify events and objects in macOS, but their use doesn’t appear to be personal or sensitive in this context. It’s a dummy certificate for a new service that…

> £79.95 > FROM Moshi, moshi.com > FEATURES 5,000mAh, Qi certified, USB-A port Most wireless Qi charging pads look pretty plain, but not so the Porto Q 5K from Moshi. The oval-shaped mat is covered in a soft grey fabric, coupled with a silicone ring to hold your iPhone in place, and a sloping silver lip around the charger’s edge. What sets the Porto Q apart from its rivals is its practical portability. When it’s plugged into a wall socket the Porto Q can wirelessly juice up your phone, but it also comes with an internal 5,000mAh battery that still works with your iPhone’s wireless charging ability. Moshi says it’ll power up an iPhone XR to about 90% using the battery, and to around 110% (over two charges) with the…

> £419.99 > FROM Insta360, insta360.com > FEATURES 180° and 360° video, up to 5.7K video, 18MP photo, HDR, FlowState stabilisation, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 The 5.7K resolution captures stunning footage The Insta360 Evo camera is capable of shooting 360° and 180° footage for VR hardware, such as the Oculus Go. It’s a niche device, but the ability to swap between two recording formats gives it a degree of flexibility. The camera costs £419.99, and that also gets you a pair of foldable VR glasses, tabletop tripod and a protective carrying pouch. The Evo consists of two cameras connected by a hinge. When locked in side by side, the two cameras film simultaneously to capture a 180° video or photo. Release the lock and the cameras fold back to back to…

> £7.99 > FROM Eternal Storms Software, eternalstorms.at > NEEDS macOS 10.10 or later If you use apps in full-screen mode, Yoink’s benefits are obvious When we reviewed Yoink for iOS (MF #335), we explained how it made moving multiple files between apps on an iPhone easier. The updated Mac version extends that to add more features to ease the copying of files from iOS to Mac. Sadly, that’s yet to include the syncing of files in Yoink between macOS and iOS via iCloud (although it does work between iOS devices), a feature that’s been in development for several months. But it does mean you can now use Continuity Camera on a Mac running Mojave to take photos or scan documents on an iPhone, and add them to Yoink on…

> £127.99 (upgrades from £29.99) > FROM Micromat, micromat.com > NEEDS OS X 10.10 or later Repairing permissions is a valuable trick for fixing wide-ranging problems TechTool Pro has really been the only comprehensive toolkit for diagnosing hardware problems over the last 30 years. And the latest version (we’ve tested 11.0.3 here) keeps pace with recent features like T2 chips, Apple’s new file system, and Mojave’s privacy protection. It’s even notarised for compatibility with macOS 10.15. When you first open it, you’ll be prompted to give it Full Disk Access in your Security & Privacy pane. This adds the four necessary items, provided you follow its instructions. Before running any tests, even its Check Computer, study its 35,000-word manual and set a configuration which you won’t regret later. By default,…

> Free, offers in-app purchases > FROM Moleskine, moleskinestudio.com > NEEDS iOS 12 or later The app’s canvas is effectively limitless horizontally Flow is new to iOS, but the people behind it know about sketching: Moleskine makes beautiful notebooks that are coveted by writers and artists alike. Flow promises to bring that Moleskine experience to your iPhone or iPad. It doesn’t, but it’s probably as close as digital drawing gets to the combination of a Moleskine notebook and a nice pen. The Flow of the title refers to two things: the flow of creative ideas when you’re in the zone, and the flow of the app itself. Unlike most sketching apps, which limit you to a specific drawing area, this app’s canvas is effectively limitless horizontally. It’s a fixed height…

MONITOR Philips 328P6AUBREB £400 philips.co.uk Getting a colour-accurate display used to cost a pretty penny, but this monitor is both impressive and affordable. It hits 99% of the Adobe RGB gamut – great for colour-critical work – and supports 10-bit colour. Throw in a host of ports (including USB-C), an IPS display and a great price, and you have a seriously good screen. ULTRA HD MONITOR Philips 328P6VJEB £530 philips.co.uk We love this display. At 32 inches diagonally it’s big enough to make its 4K resolution worthwhile, and its colour rendering is excellent – 100% of sRGB, 93% of Adobe RGB and 97% of the P3 gamut that Apple’s new MacBook Pro uses. It’s big, bold, beautiful and superb for productivity and colour work alike. EXTERNAL SSD Freecom mSSD MAXX…

Apple has updated the MacBook Pro with new processors, including an eight-core chip for the first time in a MacBook Pro. The faster chips are eight-hand ninth-generation processors from Intel. According to Apple, equipping a MacBook Pro with an eight-core i9 processor gives it two times faster performance than a quadcore MacBook Pro. When compared with a six-core MacBook Pro, the eight-core device will get you 40% more performance. The 15in MacBook Pro with a six-core chip starts at £2,349 and comes with a 256GB SSD and Radeon Pro 555X graphics processor. Opting for the 15in MacBook Pro with 512GB SSD, Radeon Pro 560X and eight-core Intel i9 chip will set you back £2,699. The eight-core processors are limited to the 15in MacBook Pro. The 13in Touch Bar model hasn’t…

With its latest incarnation for 2020, Corel Painter is all about performance. The new version features numerous improvements aimed at making the experience of using the app quicker, easier and more responsive. For example, the new Brush Accelerator runs a test on your Mac, identifies what your key components are, then tailors Painter to those components in order to help improve performance for your particular setup. For the first time, brushes can be optimised for your particular graphics processor – Corel told us that could improve brush performance by up to 40 times. You’ll find tasks like zooming and panning are quicker, too. Elsewhere, the interface has been tweaked with new hints, labels and previews, while there are more customisation options to adjust your tools to fit the task at…

Contrary to some rumours, Apple isn’t closing the iTunes Store. But it is removing the iTunes app, first introduced as an MP3 player utility in 2001. Software chief Craig Federighi joked that everyone wanted iTunes to do more, so Apple had considered adding a calendar, email app and web browser. The point being, of course, that iTunes already served too many purposes, making it confusing to use. So it was high time to split its functions out. Most strikingly, iTunes’ once central purpose of syncing and backing up connected iOS devices – now redundant for most users, since we back up to iCloud and download content directly – moves to the Finder. Connected devices appear as a drive, to which you drag tracks. Like a few other WWDC announcements, this…

There’s been speculation for years about Apple unifying its desktop and mobile operating systems. After all, iOS is based on macOS, and today’s iPhones and iPads are powerful enough to run similar software to Macs. Then again, using an iPhone is inevitably a very different experience from using a Mac. The iPad, though, lies somewhere in between, and at WWDC, Craig Federighi announced that it would finally have its own operating system, logically if cumbersomely known as iPadOS. It’s iOS 13 with some extra bits, but the extra bits should make using an iPad for proper work feel less compromised. iPadOS focuses on making use of the bigger screen, working in more than one app or on more than one document at once, and entering and editing text. It also…

Despite offering an enormous choice of games in the App Store, iOS and Apple TV have struggled to be taken seriously as games platforms. This is partly because there’s never been a decent official controller. Now devices running iOS 13 or tvOS 13 will be able to connect to Sony DualShock 4 (PS4) and Microsoft Xbox One S controllers (now sold as Xbox One Wireless Controller with Bluetooth). Apple’s new game subscription service, Apple Arcade, is also due to start in the autumn.…

iCloud Drive is the file storage part of Apple’s iCloud services. It’s a super-easy and convenient way to access your files from any of your devices, and operates very similarly to Dropbox, Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive, if you’ve used those. It shows up as a folder in Finder and you can drag files and folders to and from it like any other. By default, a copy of everything in your iCloud Drive is stored locally on your Mac. Files you place in iCloud Drive are synced to Apple’s server and made available on all the Mac and iOS devices signed in to your iCloud account. (Make sure yours are signed in: go to command > System Preferences > iCloud on a Mac, and Settings > [your name] > iCloud…

About 16 years after the final release of Internet Explorer for Mac, Microsoft returns to Apple computers with a new web browser: Microsoft Edge. Let’s take a look at features that distinguish it from Safari. Like Google’s Chrome, Edge offers the ability to create multiple user profiles – for work and personal uses, say. This saves you signing in and out of sites, or using macOS’s Fast User Switching feature to segregate browsing histories and other data. You’ll need to get used to keeping track of which profile any given window is using, though. Your browsing data from Safari is probably synced between devices via iCloud. With Edge, you’ll need to connect a Microsoft account (bit.ly/mfmsacct) to Edge for Mac and iOS. At the time of writing, only Edge’s ‘Canary…

You may have noticed that macOS-style folder icons are absent here. This is because they sit behind a one-off £9.99 in-app purchase. However, you can preview how your work would look by selecting a locked template. For image-based icons, you get three folder options – full, centre or dark. Text-based icons replace full with ‘engrave’ – a setting that doesn’t work well with emoji, since only its shape is retained. The in-app purchase also gives you more shape options (documents, media cases) and extra export settings.…

Do you ever think “There must be a better way to do this simple thing”, but you’re at a loss over how or where to do it? Welcome to the club! Even people who’ve used Macs for years miss out on invaluable shortcuts that can, over months and years, help you do things faster and more comfortably. Here, then, is an assorted collection of indispensible techniques that make Mac life even better. Much (but not all) of what you’ll learn here makes use of the modifier keys: shift, ctrl, option and command. You’ll have seen those symbols throughout your Mac’s menus, where they tell you the key combo to press in future for instant access to the adjacent item. They’re used for many more things beyond menu shortcuts though. As…

Pluto TV Pluto TV offers 100 loosely grouped channels with a massive variety of content from classic reruns to sports highlights. If you have a Vizio TV, you might actually have the Watchfree app installed – it’s the same thing, just given a different name. Popcornflix A child company of distributor Screen Media Ventures, Popcornflix has an ever-expanding library of movies and TV shows, from classic Star Trek to big-name comedy, all available to stream for free. It’s worth checking out its YouTube channel, too. Vevo Remember MTV? As in the good old days of MTV, before reality TV pushed out all the music videos? Vevo is the de facto place for the latest videos, and registering a free account will allow you to build playlists for that party.…

At least thus far, the Apple TV app doesn’t play nicely with any of these 4K streamers. So why would you want one? It’s simple: each and every one of them makes even a smart TV more pleasing to use, and just that little bit smarter – or turns any old TV into a smart one. And considering that the revamped Apple TV app is (at this point) a collection of other subscription services, which have their own apps and generally do support these devices, you’re not missing out on much until Apple TV+ launches. Plus, don’t forget that the hardware Apple TV is still a thing, even if it’s more expensive than any of these – if Apple TV+ is your aim, and you don’t have a Samsung TV…

ON TEST… > Libratone Zipp 2 > Bluesound Pulse Flex 2i > Sonos One > Beoplay M3 > Yamaha MusicCast 20 Amazingly, AirPlay has now been with us in one form or another for some 15 years. As AirTunes, its first incarnation, it was primarily there to send music from iTunes to an Airport Express; when the transition to AirPlay came in 2010, its support extended to third-party apps and devices. It’s clearly a very capable streaming protocol, and one which has grown beyond audio to support video streaming, screen mirroring and more. But for all its expansion, it’s still a top-line way of streaming audio. Harnessing Wi-Fi rather than Bluetooth increases both the potential range and the streaming resolution, while also making setup a breeze. AirPlay 2, which came…

> $5.99 (about £4.70) > FROM Deadbeef, deadbeef.me > NEEDS macOS 10.13 or later Some parts of macOS still look a little… well, traditional, despite others embracing iOS aesthetics. Juice changes that when it comes to Bluetooth devices. From its menu bar icon, you can open the app’s Control Centre. However, it’s a shame a simple click doesn’t do that, and that the feedback/update options aren’t tucked elsewhere in the app. The Control Centre looks like Apple’s Home app. Clicking a device’s tile initiates connection, which is confirmed by a notification. (If your Mac has a Touch Bar, you can add a button that reveals a list of devices, also used to connect.) Status info is accessed with a secondary click. Weirdly, we could use our trackpad’s two-finger gesture but…

> £33 > FROM Houdah Software, houdah.com > NEEDS macOS 10.13 or later This app lets you perform speedy yet complex search queries with multiple criteria. Once you’ve created a search, you can turn it into a template. Alternatively, there are templates included that you can use or modify. You can also drag a file onto the app’s window to use its attributes as the basis of a search. Version 5 of HoudahSpot includes Folding Text Preview; when you search for a word or phrase, this feature highlights exactly where it appears. The app can also remember attributes and values used and suggest them for your next search. You can arrange results by date, size, kind or app. Mojave users can add a HoudahSpot Quick Action to Finder, and there’s…

> £2.99 > FROM HandCircus, handcircus.com > NEEDS iOS 9 or later Back in 2008, this platform-based puzzle game showed off what iPhones could do with its colourful aesthetics, chilled-out tunes, and (at the time) unusual touchscreen and accelerometer controls. This version brings a graphical upgrade to ‘2.5D’; the world is rendered using 3D objects, with the action taking place in a 2D plane. The look is charmingly simple, and the atmosphere enhanced by the feel-good, chilled-out soundtrack. The first levels teach you how to move the characters. Mostly it’s by tilting your device left or right to roll them across the landscape, using their bodies to push things, and flicking to jump. Certain objects, like turnstiles and lifts, require direct manipulation, though. Characters roll responsively, though perhaps a little…

Welcome to MacFormat’s Store Guide, the place to go to find out about all the Apple kit that matters, whether you’re looking for your next iPhone or a powerful new desktop Mac. We’ve highlighted the model of each product that’s ideally suited to your needs, whether you’re a recent convert or a seasoned Apple user. So be sure to check our handy tables to see which Mac, iPad or iPhone is best for you. We’ve also handpicked the gold standard in audio, storage, monitors, and many other categories, helping you complement your Mac or iOS device with the best accessories. All of these third-party devices have been reviewed in the magazine. UPDATED OCT 2018 EXPECTED LATE 2019 Mac mini From £799 It was a long wait, but Apple has finally…

The best apps for… Our pick of the best apps and platforms for the things you want to do ALSO INSIDE… > What the industry thought of WWDC > How to remotely access your Mac > Budget home printers rated > Create your own QR codes … and more! Contents subject to change ISSUE 342 ON SALE 30 JULY 2019 DON’T MISS IT – SUBSCRIBE TODAY! IN PRINT & ON YOUR iPAD > Our print and digital bundle gets you the paper magazine as well as our iPad edition myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/macformat ON YOUR MAC > Read digitally on your Mac: subscribe with Zinio at bit.ly/ziniomacf…